Announcing the 2024 Best Companies for Women in India

This year, India’s largest Diversity Benchmarking study has expanded with industry-specific recognitions and Emerging Icons.

Congratulations to the winners of the 9th edition of Avtar & Seramount’s Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI). It’s inspiring to highlight the unique industry nuances and the groundbreaking initiatives by companies committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

The 2024 Best Companies listings feature various industry categories, including “Best Companies in Consumer Products,” “Best Companies – Global Capabilities Centers (GCC),” “Best Companies in IT,” “Best Companies in Manufacturing,” “Best Companies in Professional Services,” and “Best Companies in BFSI.” All listings are presented alphabetically.

The “Best Companies – Emerging Icons” list recognizes smaller companies with 100-500 employees.

In its sixth year, the Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI) honors organizations for their outstanding efforts in promoting inclusion for women, people with disabilities (PwD), the LGBTQ+ community, and various generations and cultures.

Position yourself as a DEI front-runner and attract top talent
Leverage industry specific DEI benchmarks
Learn from and be inspired by DEI best practices
Gain access to an exclusive progress monitoring system to track DEI growth

Celebrate diversity wins, spotlight inclusive excellence!

Registrations are now open for the 9th edition of Avtar's Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) study in partnership with Seramount!

Timeline for
BCWI and MICI
2024

March 2024

The Launch

March to May 2024

The Application Window

August 2024

Winner notifications (Top 10 Best Companies, Best Companies – Industry categories, Best Companies -Emerging Icons, Most Inclusive Companies Index)

September 2024

Public Announcement of winner listings

November 2024

Celebrating the winners at the Best Practices of the Best Conference

Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI)

Since 2016, this study has been helping companies understand their position in the industry and set achievable goals to get ahead. Benchmark your company against peers and gain insights into industry trends to stay competitive. The study recognizes companies for exceptional practices towards gender diversity and inclusion.
Who can participate?
Any company with a minimum of 500 employees (including the entire gender spectrum) in its India operations.
Foundational Offerings

Get a detailed industry report on current trends and best practices, providing you with valuable insights into your field, and to attract top talent.

Gain recognition for exceptional diversity practices and be featured as a gender-inclusive employer, highlighting your commitment to DEI in the workplace.

Leverage our exclusive progress-monitoring platform to measure the effectiveness of your gender diversity initiatives, and optimize your approach to promoting diversity and inclusion.

On-Demand Services
Level I
Report

  • Data comparison for each diversity metric against the Top 10 and 100 Best companies.
Level II
Report

  • Includes all of Level 1 plus a customized assessment report with recommendations for each key policy cluster compared to the Top 10 and 100 Best companies.
  • A compilation of best practices in the Top 10 and 100 Best companies.
Level III
Report

  • Includes all of Level 2 plus additional comparison against industry peers in the Top 10 and 100 Best companies.
  • Presentation of key findings for senior leadership via an online session.

Top Companies for Women in India (2024)

Best Companies for Women in India (2024)

Best Companies for Women in India : Emerging Icons (2024)

Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI)

Registrations are now open for Avtar’s Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI) study in partnership with Seramount!  

Benchmark your organization against the most inclusive companies in India and gain insights into industry trends. The study recognizes companies for exceptional practices towards diversity and inclusion across gender, generation, sexual orientation, physical capabilities, and regional diversity.
Who can participate?
Any company who has its operations set in India and has minimum of 5OO employees in its Indian Operations ( the entire gender spectrum included).
Foundational Offerings

Gain access to corporate India's largest diversity benchmarking platform to compare your diversity practices against market peers and best-in-class DEI strategies across various dimensions.

Get the opportunity to be featured as an equitable and inclusive employer and receive recognition for exceptional diversity practices, demonstrating your commitment to DEI in the workplace.

Leverage our robust tracking tool to measure the effectiveness of your diversity initiatives and identify areas for improvement.

On-Demand Services
Level I
Report

  • Data comparison for each diversity metric against the Top 10 and 100 Best companies.
Level II
Report

  • Customized Assessment Report with recommendations that include benchmarks against MICI’s winning categories of Champions and Exemplars of Inclusion and best practices.
Level III
Report

  • Customized Assessment Report with recommendations that include benchmarks against MICI’s winning categories of Top 10, 100 Best, and best practices.
  • Presentation of key findings for senior leadership via an online session.

Champions of Inclusion: 2024 Most Inclusive Companies Index

Exemplars of Inclusion: 2024 Most Inclusive Companies Index

Download the yearbook

LATEST EDITION – 2023

Best Companies for Women in India & Most Inclusive Companies Index

Winners of Male Ally Legacy Awards
2023

This is a recognition program for senior male leaders from corporate India who have successfully mentored women professionals supporting and promoting their career growth.

Ajay Vij

Country Managing Director,
Accenture in India,

Winner

Winner

Goutham Parcha

Vice President, Engineering,
Pegasystems

Choice of jury

Choice of Jury

Rahul Murdeshwar

Senior Accounting Director, Dow India


Choice of Jury

Choice of Jury

Winners of Avtar & Seramount Social Excellence Award
2023

This is a recognition programme aimed at identifying and celebrating the most impactful social impact initiative amongst applicant companies.

Teleperformance

project: A Force of Good #InspiredToCare


Winner

Winner

Sony Pictures

Project:
Livelihood Skills Training
for Women

Choice of Jury

Choice of Jury

Citibank

Project:
Self Shakti and Gelathi Programs


Choice of Jury

Choice of Jury

Frequently asked questions

  1. 2024 BCWI will have two tracks: Track 1 is for companies with 500 or more employees.  Track 2 is for companies between 100 – 500 employees. Companies with a registered MSME certificate (whose employee count is over 500 or between 100-500) should also apply to this segment.
  2. Best Companies listing in 2024 will have industry categories – “Best Companies in Consulting”, “Best Companies in IT”, “Best Companies in manufacturing”, “Best Companies in FMCG”, “Best companies in BSFI”, etc. All listings will be alphabetical in nature. The trailblazing Top 10 companies across industries, will be honored as a separate alphabetical list.
  3.  

 

Yes – there are separate application forms for Track 1 and 2.

 

If your company runs operations in India with more than 500 employees, you’re eligible to apply for BCWI – Track 1.

If your company runs operations in India with 100-500 employees, you’re eligible to apply for BCWI – Track 2 (Emerging icons).

If your company has participated in BCWI – Track 1 (for companies with more than 500 employees), you’re eligible to apply for MICI.

BCWI is not a pay-to-participate exercise. There is no registration fee.
Participating in BCWI exposes your company to the industry’s best DEI benchmarking platform. You gain access to tools that assess your gender diversity initiatives and allow you to share and learn best practices from other top companies. Your company can get recognized for its efforts in gender diversity and present itself as a gender-inclusive employer.
Participating in MICI helps your company get recognition for its efforts to nurture diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It gets the opportunity to learn and share best practices from peer companies and assess where it stands with DEI benchmarking. Plus, it can feature itself as an equitable and inclusive employer!

Follow three simple steps:

  • Fill out this form.
  • E-sign the CoP (Confirmation of Participation)
  • Adhere to the deadline (31st May 2024)
The application includes 300+ questions that cover areas like Workforce Profile, Women’s Recruitment, Retention and Advancement, Safety & Security, Flexible Work, Parental Leave & Benefits, Benefits & Work-Life Programs, and Company culture & Management Accountability.
Yes, policies implemented in the past years can be quoted in your application.
Yes, the MICI application form includes 150 questions covering areas including Diversity Profile, Practices for Recruitment, Retention and Advancement and Company Culture.
No, all BCWI registrations are online via the stated application form only.
No, for a company to participate in MICI, it has to necessarily apply to BCWI.
No, a company can choose to participate in MICI.
Yes – data will be saved. The ‘Next’ button at the bottom of every page also doubles up as the ‘Save’ button. As you click ‘Next’, all data up until that page is saved and synced with the server.
Not necessarily. You can account a particular program/initiative/practice that has seen a structured execution in your company in the past year
Yes. Please ensure that your responses adhere to the basic business rules on the form. For example, the number of employees across all levels should sum up to the total number of employees.

Learn about our Best of Best Conference

&

CSR EXCELLENCE
AWARDS

INDIA 2022
&

MALE ALLY
LEGAL AWARD

INDIA 2022
&

MOST INCLUSIVE COMPANIES INDEX

INDIA 2022

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